Last Resort
by Rachbal
Summary: The war is lost, Levana has taken control of the Earth, all Earthen nations bow to her. Resistance is crushed before much damaged is done. However, her obsession remains unsatisfied. When word arrives of a pair of rival queens, Levana throws caution to the wind to confront them. She will either be the fairest queen of all or burn.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Rising Conspiracy**

A lone man made his way across the desert on a ground car. The wind was low and a little dust blew in his path, but his wheels kicked up an obvious tail in his wake. With a tail like that he was visible for miles around. It didn't matter, even though he was suppose to be in hiding, he couldn't bring himself to care about being found. If one of those mutant wolf monsters found him or a thaumaturge, he could finally do his duty and resist uselessly like a hero and, in the end, die. He preferred the wolf mutant of course.

What was life, what was it without those he loved. _Duty,_ he thought grimly, _is a poor substitute for family._ He had been a creature of career and duty as has his father had been. Not surprising, since it served the family well for generations. Well not anymore, there was no more family for duty to serve. His wife and son were dead, killed in the war. His wife recently, torn in two by one of those creatures when a blasted thaumaturge found their safe house. His son, a worthless, thieving vagabond, died at the beginning like a man.

Oh that boy! He had cursed his good-for-nothing son a thousand times. An embarrassment was an understatement of the greatest order! However, with no one left in this galaxy, even that irritating lad would be a blessing. Duty was as cold and silent a friend as the stone monuments his wife and son should have had, but never would with the Lunars in charge.

He saw his destination and turned the car toward it. A small town, equal parts mine and farm, and the only place for ages with a bar. Remote to say the least and easily overlooked. He could just disappear here, either in this or any of the other countless settlements out in the wilds. Live quietly until he died of old age, or, just as likely, be found out by a thaumaturge who would have the rest of the town pay with their lives. No, duty was all he had left and he would do what it required until it took him too.

He pulled the car to a stop outside the bar and stepped out. He cursed has he steeped too hard and lost his balance. He cursed the planet as he hit the ground, he wasn't used to one-third standard gravity. At least no one saw him stumble, and with reduced gravity of Mars he spring to his feet with more agility than he had in his hay day.

Stepping carefully he opened the door of the airlock and closed it behind him. He heard air rush in, increasing the pressure and adding more oxygen in the atmosphere. A vacuum deployed from above and blew then sucked up excess dust from his person. When the other door of the airlock opened, he almost felt clean. He removed his oxygen mask and clipped it to his shoulder.

"Hello stranger." Came a congenial voice from behind the counter. The bartender was cleaning a glass. "Haven't ever seen you come in before. What can I get you?"

"Corellian ale," he replied, common enough words, but important to his mission. He gave the second half to the code phrase. "With a shot of Ruby Bliels."

"Ah, gotcha." The bartender finished cleaning the glass and filled it with the requested beverages. As he handed it over he whispered. "Your friend is in the back."

With that information, the room was found and entered, with a door closing behind. As he hoped, and possibly dreaded, it was occupied. One man, dress similarly to his own generic outfit sat at a long table, watching the door. He stood.

"Kingsley Thorne, is that you?" The formerly sitting man asked incredulously. Kingsley Thorne was just as surprised.

"Tobias Chen?! I though you're dead!" They both pulled their pistols, expecting treachery but unwilling to pull the trigger without evidence. "How do I know it's really you?"

"I could ask you the same." Tobias spat. "Just like one of those magicians to make an illusion of someone I'd trust!"

"Please don't shoot each other," a third voice entered the room from another door. A face Kingsley thought he'd never see again, but for different reasons stepped in. "I guarantee you are both genuine. Besides, it would ruin my carpet."

"You!" Kingsley bellowed and switched his aim. "What are you doing here?!"

"I own this joint, that's what," The newcomer replied with a smirk. "Is this any way to treat a cousin you haven't seen in five years?"

"A coward who abandoned his nation during a time of need you mean!" Kingsley spat, so angry that the pistol in his hand started to shake.

"I like to think of it as a strategic withdrawal." His cousin answered calmly. "Now why don't we holster our weapons before we do something we'd all regret and have a drink?" Tobias complied and took to his seat and cup. Kingsley was slower, but consented when he saw he would be the only one left standing.

"I'm David Thorne by the way," Kingsley's cousin told Tobias. "Kingsley may never have mentioned me, kind of the family black sheep."

"So I gathered." Tobias replied. "Charmed I'm sure. Now, would I be correct in assuming that you are the one would called us here?"

"Yes." David said. "I did."

"Why," Kingsley growled.

"First to offer my condolences on your loss, Cousin." David replied firmly to Kingsley. "You may not believe me, I always felt your wife was a superior woman, the universe is a lesser place without her. And your son as well, I would have like to have met Carswell. We black sheep should always stick together!" Kingsley was not amused and only growled louder.

"I'm sorry Kingsley," David said with more soberness. "Really I am. And to you too Major Chen. These last few haven't been easy on either of you."

It hadn't. There was the war, when the Queen of Luna declared it on the Earthen Union. Prepared and with brutally effective tactics, nearly every battle was a victory for Luna. In a year the planet was taken. Resistance groups and rebel insurgents had sprung up in the wake of the occupation, but they had proven as easily squashed as the professional militaries. What remained of them were scattered, going to ground in effort to avoid the thaumaturges hunting them. Now, in the wake of the latest series of disasters for Earthens; Mars, Venus, Mercury, and several asteroid states were capitulating, sue for peace without a fight.

"No, it hasn't." Tobias agreed. "Thank you. Now, perhaps you can tell us why you called us here. It can't be to hear us swap sob stories. You were the one who sent the summons?"

"Yes, I was." David confirmed. "I have a proposal to make, a plan that could turn the tide of the war in our favor. But I need help, I no longer have the contacts on Earth I once had. In fact, you two were the only ones I could locate on short notice."

"What plan?" Kingsley snorted. "What possible plan could stand up to the Queen and her army?!"

"I...happen to know of someone who could match Levana and her army. The problem is how to force the confrontation, since said person is rather apathetic outside their personal sphere of influence." David explained.

"Oh!" Kingsley raised his eyebrows in false praise. "And pray tell, where is this savior of ours?!"

"All I will say for the moment is the Jovian system. Unless you are willing to commit then I won't say more."

Kingsley laughed, horse and sarcastic. "You want us to commit?! You who ran out on us when we needed you, want us to stand and fight! Of course and while we hold the line, you'll just slink off to whatever hole you were hiding in these last five years. Leaving us to die!" David was silent as his cousin ranted. "You disgrace the name Thorne! A name, a family legacy that leaves no one behind, that knows no retreat! How dare you?!"

David gave Kingsley a moment to calm down, then said. "Retreat, and for that matter leaving people behind, is a part of the maneuver of war, and a commander who would rather be destroyed than retreat to fight another day has no business in command. If you don't believe me, check The Art of War. I'm certain the General would agree with me."

Kingsley sprang to his feet and hurled his glass at David's head. David, expecting the move, ducked away, allowing the glass to shatter on the wall behind. Tobias held Kingsley back keeping him from climbing over the table to pummel his cousin. "Kingsley, for galaxy's stars! Calm down! He isn't our enemy and he's right! If this plan of his doesn't work, then just have back off and figure out something else. I don't know about you, but I plan to listen him."

Kingsley Thorne exhaled as much resentment, anger, hurt pride, and fear as he could, before he agreed. "All right. I know I am going to regret this, but fine, I agree to commit. Go on, tell us, what is this plan of yours."


	2. Chapter 1

Birthday Revelation

She hated parties. Not as much as she use to, but they were still tiresome even if she was the sole guest of honor. People crowded around her, giving her meaningless congratulations and well wishes for the future. They all desired her, loved her, but there something missing, elusive. When she tried to grasp it, it slipped through her fingers.

"Your Majesty, I wish you the happiest of birthdays!" Declared some unknown magistrate from one of her new domains. She gave no thought to his name, there was never time to learn all the names of her many bureaucrats, even before the conquest of Earth. Now with all her new possessions, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and an ever increasing number of asteroid colonies, she had to deploy an army to manage them as well as police them. So she gave him the same meaningless half wave of acceptance that she gave to the thousands of officials in attendance of her 40th birthday celebration.

40th. She was forty years old. She didn't look it of course, no woman on Luna look her age if she didn't want to look it. However that didn't change the fact that she was older than before and she hated it. Time, she felt, was becoming a worse enemy every year. And unlike the rebels she had crushed time and again, it was an enemy that she couldn't defeat because it had no form she could attack.

No, she couldn't defeat time, and her people knew it. Levana was certain they were whispering unceasingly about her inability to produce an heir. She had tried, oh she had tried. In the last six years she had taken three times as many consorts, growing more frustrated with each failure. Her latest attempt was with a third son scion of an Artemisia noble family barely half her age. Two months in and no sign of success despite four nights together a week. If he couldn't give want she needed then she would just have to send him away. Or have him executed, she could decide later, but she would need a break, as that kind of work was exhausting.

Speaking of exhausting, now another nameless vassal of petty position was trying to draw her attention, filling the air with false congratulations and wishes for her future health. Levana was just as tried with them as she was with her consorts. The endless numbers, all looking at her, wanting her. Wasn't it as she always hoped? Then why did she feel so tired? Felt stretched thin without the satisfaction she craved. Why couldn't she ever feel content? Was there something she left undone?

In that moment Levana wanted nothing more than to be left alone with her thoughts. "Leave me!" She ordered with no care for her tone. "I would be alone!" As if her voice was wind, the crowd scattered away like leaves, leaving Levana alone in a space devoid of companionship. At once, the pressure of the throng receded and Levana breathed easier.

However, her ease didn't last. She was alone in the vast hall, that wasn't what she wanted. She could see the crowd collecting in groups, some friends and others...lovers. It made her think of him. Her heart sank, and she had to squint to stop the tears. She hadn't thought of Evert in a long time. Gone were the days when she couldn't stop thinking of him, but even now he could stir such feeling in her. She now dove into the masses, hoping to distract herself from him.

Distraction she found, in irritation. As she approach a group, they would cease their easy conversation, stand formally, and pleasantly answer her questions. In not one could she find companionship and her ire was rising.

"Don't be foolish Levana!" She chided herself. "You are queen, you don't need companionship. You don't need anything, you have everything." And she did, yet she was unsatisfied, aimlessly drifting among the clusters in the crowd.

Then she noticed him. A middle-aged man staggering his way between the clusters of the crowd, obviously drunk. She had seen him before but paid him little attention. Judging by his dress and lack of glamour, he must belong to a recent conquest envoy. Unimportant vermin and not worthy of notice, she turned away just as he intruded in on another group.

"Hey, I know you lunars say your queen has the prettiest face, but I know better!"

Levana stopped. She couldn't help over hearing, the oaf practically shouted it. At first she was too stunned to think and missed what he said next. Then, with anger she hadn't known since she faced her niece last, Levana whirled to the oaf and his audience. With horror they listened to his last remark. "White was snow and the other, red as a rose!"

Now Levana stood just behind him and the crowd's horror appreciatively increased. Yet he hadn't noticed. "What?!" He asked, followed their gaze with some difficulty. "What's you all staring at? Oh!" He leaned forward slightly with squinting eyes trying to make her out with blurred vision. The smell of alcohol was strong on his breath.

"Levana! We were just talking about you! Weren't we?" He turned and nearly fell, but steady himself on a recently vacate chair. The table had cleared out. "Hey! Where did everyone go?!" He turned back to Levana. "Was it something I said?"

"Yes," Levana answered and then lashed out. The oaf screamed and crumpled to the floor. His cries stilled the whole hall into silence as all looked to the scene. Levana abstracted a share of pleasure watching him writhe on the floor under her power, but not for long. There was something she wanted to know after all.

"What did you say about knowing better than I as fairest?" She kept her voice from the growl she wanted to express, if just barely. The pain sobered the inebriated clod because focus returned to his eyes and his mouth clamped shut. He realized the danger he was in, however silence would serve him no better than chatter. Levana hit him again and when his screams settled to whimpers, she repeated her question.

"I...I didn't mean anything by it Your Majesty. I...I just tend to ramble when I get too much liquor! It was nothing, really!" His answer was not satisfactory and Levana let him know with another flash of pain. "Ah! I just said what I heard some traders from Jove are rumoring!"

"And that is?" Levana let the silence speak for her. The clod shook off the final dregs of spirits and rushed to answer.

"That the twin queens of Io are the most beautiful creatures in the universe!"

"And who are these...twin queens of Io?" Levana demanded.

"I don't know, I swear!" The clod pleaded. "It was just idle cantina talk!"

"And you thought to repeat it here? I know what to do seditionists like you!" Levana cried. "Guards, seize him!" Two of her palace guards stepped forward and grabbed the oaf by his arms and dragged him away. Levana followed, leaving her party behind, forgotten.


	3. Chapter 2

**Inadequate Intelligence**

"Well?!" Levana barked, impatient. "What have you found out?"

"Not much I'm afraid." Thaumaturge Aimery Park admitted. "Official records state Io was a penal colony under Callisto authority, at least until ten years ago. Apparently the colony rebelled against its governor and broke away. It is now a semi-independent world with its own government, but official records make no mention of a queen let alone two."

"That's it?!" Levana raged and Aimery flinched slightly. "I give you three days to find out what you could and this is all you have?!" She was exhausted despite her trembling form on the throne. She could sleep, not with two formless and radiantly beautiful maidens, one white and the other red, laughing and pointing at her. _'We see through you Levana!'_ They mocked with glee. _'We are not fooled by your illusions. You will always be the little ugly princess.'_ At that point they merge and turn into Channary who would say... _'Always be nothing!'_

"My Queen, please! I was not finished." The head thaumaturge pleaded. "The official records are quite spartan. So much in fact that the only reasonable explanation I can come to is that the records were censored before being filed. A cover-up of some kind."

"And what does that mean?" Levana was growing weary and her tone spoke it.

"I'm not sure," Aimery confessed. "The Callisto colony used Io for two things. First as a dump for their social refuse. All its inhabitants are criminals or political prisoners whose sole other option is usually death. The other was as the foundation of their industries. Due to its nature, Io is the primary source of energy and common material refinery for the entire system. In short, it was the keystone of the Jovian economy and with its loss the Callisto Oligarchy powerbase all but collapsed. Yet they made little effort to reclaim Io, at least officially."

"This is all very fascinating Thaumaturge Aimery, but it doesn't answer my question. _Are there twin queens on Io?!_ " Levana snapped. "The oaf said there were and I would like to know if it is true!"

Aimery hesitated. When his queen was in this mood, which was happening rather more often, people died. He couldn't honestly give her what she wanted, he didn't know. All the information the late Andol Barts, or the oaf as his queen liked to refer, had given them, under torture, were a handful of colorful rumors collaborated by a few other delegates from similarly far-flung settlements. Once his usefulness expired, they completed the process of detaching his appendages through decapitation.

Aimery then pulled up the archives on Jupiter's moons. He hoped the official records would shed some light, but as he mentioned before they said surprisingly little and there hadn't been time to seek another source. He didn't like it, something felt wrong, however a 'feeling' wouldn't satisfy his queen. He needed more time to get the info he needed or to let the tire of the issue and there was only one way to that under these circumstances, _lie_.

"I believe there may be a basis to the rumors, My Queen." Aimery said. Now to stretch the truth. "Io has its own government now and having spoken to some of the our delegates from the Belt settlements I believe the first new rulers were two women. Whether they were sisters, let alone twins, I cannot say. However, I doubt they are queens. If they wield absolute authority it is as petty dictators and have none of your Majesty's graces."

"You _believe?_ " Levana asked pointedly. "Why do you not know?"

"Well," Aimery swallowed. "The records..."

"I know what you said about the records!" Levana shouted. "Surely there are other means of gathering information outside of _'official records!'_ Tapping communications networks, infiltration, abductions; each of these provided us ample intelligence against the Earthens. So apply them to the Jovians!"

"My Queen, if I may be so bold. The Jovian system is too far removed from Luna to establish the same type of spy infrastructure in only three days." Aimery nearly bit his lip but maintained a calm facade. Had he gone too far? Levana looked ready to lop his head off herself, but then relaxed with a slow breath.

"I see your point." The queen agreed slowly. "Very well. I need information about the rulers of Io so _you_ will go to Jupiter and set up my intelligence network. Make your arrangements and be on your way."

Aimery was stunned. He, the head thaumaturge, was to go slinking off to the outer moons to set up a ring of spies? It wasn't work fit for his position! Ah, then he remembered his predecessor, Sybil Mira. She had practically established single handed the means by which the Queen kept tabs of the Earthen Union. It made sense that the Queen would expect the same from him. Well, he wasn't quite Sybil's equal, but if it would please his Queen and give him the time and means to determine the truth as well as keep his head and position, he would obey.

"Very good My Queen." He said as he bowed. "I will need a week to be properly outfitted."

"Yes, yes!" Levana waved him away. "Just get going and be sure to keep me informed." Aimery bowed again and exited the throne room. It would be a busy week.


	4. Chapter 3

**Revising Plans**

Three men read the report from Luna that scrolled across the screen. The news could have been better.

"So she sends her favorite lapdog on an errand." Kingsley Thorn grumbled. He had hoped for more spectacular results despite his experience. "And stays in her palace, lording over us all."

"It was a long shot in the first place Kingsley." Tobias pointed out. "I'm more worried that Thaumaturge Aimery will see through our trap when he arrives."

"Oh, I'm sure he see's through it now." David said. "He'll suspect a rouse, that much I'm certain, how much more I don't know. Not that it will help him much. His trip will only delay our plans, but it may allow us time to firm up our preparations." He pause for a moment in thought. "It may be a boon..."

"Boon?" Tobias mused. "How is it a boon if he already suspects a trap. He'll be on the lookout and might stumble on the truth."

"Yes." David agreed. Tobias was right. Of course the only answer to the problem was one he wish he could avoid. "I guess I'll have to ask _her_ for another favor."

"I thought she was done with favors for you?" Kingsley questioned pointedly.

"She is, but Tobias might be able to appeal to her human nature."

"Oh no!" Tobias resisted. "Why me?"

"She likes you." David said.

"Ha! Only because she hates you and can't stand Kingsley." Tobias returned. "What could I say that would get her to listen?"

"Promise her a ship. There is a rather _shiny_ one headed her way now." David indicated. Tobias rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. It wouldn't work coming from me, but you..."

"What about the Queen?" Kingsley asked gruffly. "I thought your little stunt was suppose to anger her enough to storm the Galilean Moons."

"It was, but as Tobias said that was a lot to expect for one attempt." David replied. He pulled up his portscreen and began to input code. "Fortunately, I have a number of little _bugs_ to stir the queen to action."

"Bugs?" Kingsley arched his eyebrow, puzzled. His cousin chuckled at the expression, it turned Kingsley's normally stern face goofy, if only a little.

"You remember I arranged to get the software upgrades for the Artemisia Palace communication system, especially the intercom and screens? A waste of time you called it I believe." David pointed out.

"Well it is! What can you do with that?" Kingsley cried. "Buzz and blind her to death?"

"No, something more subtle." Tobias interceded as he looked at the inputs David was making. "You're going to place hidden messages in the feeds that only she will be able to see and hear! Brilliant, but how are you going to tell where she is and make the appropriate visual and audio alignments to her perception alone?"

"A number of ways," David said, "Her schedule, the proximity sensors in rooms, some of the palace staff...I have all I need to make the queen think of nothing more than the Jovian system. She'll be gone soon enough. Now let's talk about our preparations for when she leaves..."


	5. Chapter 4

**Expedition of Insanity**

 _"Io..."_

Levana tossed in her sleep as the word penetrated her subconscious. She muttered and groaned as images wove their way through her dreams. Images of two crowns, one white the other red, placing themselves on the white and red heads of two faceless maidens. They must have been beautiful because the universe shouted for joy at the sight of them and stars bowed in reverence of their glory. They sat, side by side, on the throne of Artemisia, obvious to the world as if such adoration was their due. Instead they turned their unknowable faces to Levana at their feet and smiled. Then, as it happened every night, they became one, the one she feared and hated above all else, one she had seen in a girl at a ball when she should be dead. The beautifully unpleasant face smiled. _"I win baby sister."_

"Channary!" Levana screamed as she bolted upright. Sweat soiled night robes a sheets, leaving Levana feeling slimy and foul. Her doors burst open and two guards came in the room. Their faces, passive as usual, seem to take on a hint of annoyed resignation at the outburst, it happened nearly every night.

"My Queen, are you alright?" The senior guard asked.

"No I am not alright fool!" Levana screamed, her weariness finally peeling away what was left of her stately reserve. "I can't sleep!"

"Shall I call your physician My Queen."

"No! He doesn't help. All he can do is give me tranquilizers." And they did little to help. Levana closed her eyes and gripped her head with her hands, the pressure from her palms bringing some of the relief she sought and she forced herself to think.

Channary. Her face kept reappearing in Levana's dreams and even invaded her private moments during the day, when she thought she could see and hear things. Things like images she spied out of the corner of her eyes and voices just too faint to hear clearly. Yet they always reminded her of the threat to everything she had, everything she accomplished. The twin queens of Io.

Channary. She died once then Levana killed her, yet she kept coming back! Somehow the queens of Io were connected to her. How Levana didn't know, but that didn't matter. Did not Selene, Channary's daughter, come back from the dead to haunt Levana. Could Channary's spirit have found some other way from the oblivion that was death through these rulers of a distant world? What did she have to do to rid herself of her sister's specter, go there herself with the fleet and level the moon?

Levana opened her eyes the thought then narrowed them as she set her jaw in a firm line. She turned to her guards. "Wake my thaumaturges. I will have their attendance to my will in the throne room."

She rose from her bed, not caring that she wore naught but her nightgown for she conjured an exquisite robes of state for herself in honor of this action she was about to order. Her guards stood uncertain to abandon their posts, even at her orders, but they relented when others took their places. Levana made a steady stride to her throne and took a moment to glance out the window at the city below. Her city, her world, her empire. Hers, and one else!

She sat on the throne for five minutes waiting, wringing her hands. If her were not so set on what she was about to do she might have dedicate some thought to punishment for the tardy thaumaturges. As it was she nearly missed their entrance. Many struggled to stifle yawns and had to resort to glamours to give themselves the appearance of wakeful attention.

"I have come to a decision in regards to the threat to our kingdom from the queens of Io." She stated as they all arrived. If any were surprised at the declaration none showed it. They all had an idea to whom she referred, Levana had been musing over the issue for weeks with increasing frequency. They remained silent, ready to hear the rest of her statement. "Assemble the fleet. I am leading an expedition to the Jovian moons to bring the upstarts to heel."

"Uh, my queen?" One of the higher ranked nobles, Thaumaturge Kange, recently appointed to his position, ask cautiously. "Thaumaturge Aimery hasn't yet arrived in the Jovian system. Perhaps it would be better to wait for his report on the situation?"

Levana frowned. He was always too out spoken for his own good, his family wwas one of the richest and most influential on Luna. Perhaps he felt that gave him some prerogative to speak his mind. A more reasonable side of herself appreciated his advice, but weeks without sleep, listening to voices and seeing visions, drowned out that prudent voice in favor of action. So Levana took action and ordered her guards to toss the meddler to her mutant wolves. She then order the court to watch, so all could him torn apart, screaming. None spoke up further.

Instead orders were issued throughout the conquered realms. All ships and soldiers that could be spared from all corners of the new Lunar Empire were to gather at designated assembly points and join with the Queen's task force as it passed by. It took three days to get started from Luna, faster than anyone claimed possible before many more were slaughtered as motivation.

The expedition swelled as ships filled with both normal lunars and mutants joined the task force. At Mercury thirty ships were added to the Luna-Earth core ships numbering five hundred. Another hundred joined at Venus. At Mars, a fleet of another two hundred joined to the rising toll. As the expedition entered the asteroid belt, some one hundred and seventy more ships were incorporated from various colonies. In all a thousand ships, from pickets to transports to dreadnoughts, answered the call of their divine empress.

Levana gaze at the armada from her private viewing lounge in pleasure and awe. There were ships from every extremity of human civilization. Some built on Luna, some Earth, others on Mercury and Venus, yet more from the asteroids. They came from everywhere, but they all belonged to her alone. Equipped with the best weaponry available and manned by her loyal subjects, the fleet could turn any world to slag by her word alone. All with just a word from her.

Inside many of those great machines of war were the most devastating and ferocious monsters her scientists could breed. If she preferred it, planets wouldn't be turned to slag, but would have seas made of blood as the beasts hunted their prey without mercy or remorse.

Here was her power. A sign of her divinity. The right to rule by the might of her arms! She brought all this to bear, made reality of her predecessors fantasies, creating an empire greater than any before. She was mistress of a thousand ships. It was for her sake they came from the far side of the sun to converge on one world.

Io. There Levana would crush the two frauds who dared claim themselves her equals. Dared to think about usurping her throne. Dared to become the sister she feared.

After it ended, no one could ever challenge her again. She would have the life she deserved, the unquestioned love and devotion of all. Fortune, which had so far escaped her for so long, would give her the peace and prosperity she craved. Everything would be fine.

With that thought, Levana leaned back into her plush cushions and slept soundly.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chartering a Flight to the Forbidden Moon**

Thaumaturge Aimery was annoyed. Annoyed, frustrated, angry, yes; but _now_ he was also distressed.

The Queen was coming to the Jovian system. She would be here in three weeks, with an armada of a thousand ships and an army a million strong. And she will want to know what he had learned about the 'Queens of Io.' The problem was, he hadn't learned much more than he had on Luna.

He knew something wasn't right about the whole situation before he left. He had made this trip primarily get himself out of his queen's reach until he could get the information Queen Levana wanted or until she could forget about the whole thing. Yet it was clear she hadn't, she hadn't even waited long enough for him to send an initial report of his arrival. Instead she had come with the bulk of her military in tow.

What made the queen so rash to come to the Jovian system with the fleet? Did she think the "Twin Queens of Io" were that dangerous?

Not that he could discount that they could be that dangerous. When he had arrived at Callisto, its government had forbidden landing privileges. When he had protested, he being the highest ranking officer in the Lunar Empire, two cruisers of Callisto's space navy fired warning shots across his ship's bow. After issuing his own prompt promise of retribution for such an act of disrespect, Aimery had his ship turn for a friendly harbor.

They landed on Ganymede instead. It was the largest moon in the solar system and held the most of the Oligarchy manufacturing industry. While technically under Callisto Oligarchy Authority, Aimery had read the political situation well, the loss of Io had shaken the Callisto control. While the official channels still denied his ship berth, he managed to make contact with private parties that granted him landing, with the proper bribes. Just in time, his ship was starting to run low on fuel and provisions. So on Ganymede he made his first inquires.

He didn't have much success. The files he could access from here were no more enlightening that the ones on Luna. Then there were the people. Some spoke freely, others required motivation that varied from a carrot or a stick, but few had relevant data.

What he managed to glean was a story of a nurse, an immigrate recently arrived from a place no one could agree on, arrested for murder and drug smuggling then sent to the Io penal colony with twin daughters. Well, that too was a point of argument, some said that she adopted twins while living on Io. When the girls were only fourteen, their mother was killed by the colony's corrupt governor, the Warden Administrator. The girls went to rally the Warden's enemies, dethroning him.

That was a basic outline taken from a hundred testimonies, each swearing the truth and each differing on many details. The endings, however, were filled with rumors of a fantastical battle involving Callisto navy ships and Ionian power transmitter arrays. Some of the more absurd stories involved the moon's volcanoes erupting at the command of the twin girls.

It was, all of it, nearly useless. He did, however, finally learn the names of his Queen's supposed rivals. Rosette and Ryme Khouri. And though the official records did declare them the official Warden Administrators, most on Ganymede called them queens out of simplicity or fantasy.

Perhaps that is what so upset Queen Levana. Not that these girls were so presumptuous to call themselves queens, but that the people were that frivolous with the term. He wondered how his Queen would respond to a term that some of the crazier elements of Ganymede lesser society called the new Wardens, _goddesses_. He smiled as he indulged in the fantasy, oh yes, his Queen would have a thing or two to say about that to the good people of Ganymede.

He frowned. He didn't have time for fantasies. He still didn't have any information that would appease Queen Levana, nor would she let this go, not with the force she was bringing. Now there was only one way to get the information he needed. He had to go to Io.

Not such an easy task as it might first appear. Though Io came as close as 600,000 km to Ganymede, a small hop compared to the journey from Luna, the space in which it lay was filled with dangers. Radiation, as strong as a solar-flare, but unending, was trapped in Jupiter's magnetic field. This Plasma Torus, aligned to the strong magnetic field, wreaked havoc with computer and power systems on ships and poisoned crews. Only ships specially hardened against radiation could survive long in the Plasma Torus without suffering system failures and radiation epidemics.

That was what he was doing when he received the communication from Luna about the armada's arrival. He was considering refitting his ship with the necessary shielding. The problem was it would take too long to do it right and there was always a risk that someone would attempt to steal secrets from his ship. It was state of the art and clearly the Callisto Oligarchy was not friendly, allowing the ship to be torn apart seemed a bad idea. Which only left one option to get the intelligence he needed before the Queen arrived, chartering a flight.

That is why he was here in this tavern, to meet the only pilot who could get him to Io. There wasn't a shortage of ships of pilots on Ganymede, there were plenty of both. It was that few of those ships were also equipped to take the radiation of the Plasma Torus, it wasn't a cheap conversion and he needed to get back alive. Second, there wasn't many ships capable of running the Callisto navy blockade at Europa orbit. Some tried, Aimery had seen one, then seen the boat blown to smithereens by a patrol boat.

There were ships that did travel to Io. They were government supply ships, carrying supplies and new prisoners to the penal colony. Apparently, the life expectancy on the colony was only fifteen years, though that was much higher than it had been before. In exchange, Io transmitted huge amounts of energy via large microwave transmitter arrays. Energy collected from the volcanoes and even from the Plasma Torus itself, transmitted and relayed to Ganymede an Callisto.

Unfortunately, those ships were not an option. They were heavy protected until they passed the blockade, secured by both men and androids guards while docked. Aimery's two packs, one of special operatives and the other of full grade beasts, could take the ship but he'd lose most in the process and he still would have a ship too slow to out run the blockade. So he was force look to for someone who could get him to Io and back.

The name he got was a peculiar one. Skipper Twitch. A legend nevertheless, the man had successfully run the blockade several times. Always in a different ship. No one quite knew why he did this, though they all had theories. Calling card, anonymity, indulgence in some odd hobby; whatever it was Aimery figured smuggling contraband to Io or one the inner moon colonies shouldn't pay that well. Perhaps he simply modified clients' ships though that would be absurdly time consuming and materially wasteful. Not that it mattered to Aimery, as long as it got him to Io.

He heard the sound of someone pulling a chair to his table. He looked up and saw a young woman clad in old flight suit slump into the chair lean back and dumped her booted feet onto his table with a loud _thump!_ The table shook from the impact and his drink, a rather poor imitation of Lunar wine jumped several centimeters into the air and half the cup's contents sloshed onto the table.

While he cared little for the beverage, the arrogant act of this wench, acting as if she owned his table, cause him to frown in displeasure and anger. "Excuse me, I paid for this table."

"Really?" The woman asked without an iota of actual of concern for the breach in manners or the two Lunar Special Operatives on either side of him, growling at her. "Don't see your name on it."

"Well I did." He affirmed. "Now run along girl and find your own table."

"I think this one suits me just fine." She retorted. "Maybe you should move along."

Her brashness inflamed Aimery's already tried nerve. He was here waiting to meet the only pilot that could get him to Io before his Queen arrived, now some dumb cow was trying to pick a fight. Why he didn't know, surely everyone knew who he was even if it was just from all his asking around. Yet this girl was provoking him, and that could cause a scene that could chase away the one person he needed most at the moment. So he smothered the impulse to have the wolves tear her apart as an example to the crowd and reached out with his Gift.

He was only trying to get her to lose interest, if in a sick way all the better. She'd leave in a fast sprint to the bathroom and he could continue to wait in peace. That's not what happen. She didn't run or even stand up, instead her whole body shook. Perhaps shook was too brutal a description. Not shook, she vibrated, every motion she made accelerated to the point of seeming to...twitch?

Aimery immediately stopped using his Gift. "Twitch?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Who wants to know?" She replied in a casual tone.

Aimery paid her a look of close scrutiny. Her flight suit was as his cursory glance indicated, old and patched. He thought it went poorly with her youthful appearance, for she couldn't be more than twenty-five. Youthful as she was, like her suit, she wasn't particularly well kept. Black hair in a shoddy braid, dirt and grime streaking the patches of visible skin as well as her clothes. The boots were, as he realized, not simple footwear. They were Low G Striders, with enlarged pouches filled with dense metals, like lead, to give people stability on moons and some large asteroids. He had rarely seen them worn inside habitats with artificial gravity, because of their weight. Judging by the dimensions of her over-sized boots, they probably weighed 12 kilograms, apiece! How she walked around in them, let alone plopping them on his table, he didn't know. Her legs must be incredibly strong.

Then he noticed the tool gauntlets on her forearms. Use by engineers and technicians in Zero G, they supplemented tool belts with easy access to items nearer to ones hands. These gauntlets, on the other hand had been modified, with larger pockets that appeared to be stuffed with something solid and not tools.

But the one feature that kept drawing her attention were the goggles she wore. Big and black, he recognized them as welding glasses. With them over her eyes made looking her in eye difficult and unnerving. How she could see through them to get around?

Clearly she was little like he expected. Most people he met had assumed "Twitch" to be a man, well into adulthood, though no one he'd talked had actually met the vaunted space pilot. With her age she must had started her career at an early age and she must be extraordinarily talented.

"I do." He answered her question once he completed his second assessment. "First Tier Thaumaturge Aimery Park."

"I know." She responded. She tilted her head to her left and then voiced his thoughts. "Not what you were expecting?"

"No." He agreed.

"I don't normally meet customers face to face. Don't like to be pointed out in the middle of a crowd." He gave her another look from head to toe. In those boots and goggles, she would be easy to spot in a crowd.

"Then why meet with me?" He asked.

"Special consideration I suppose, you being fancy pants chief magician for the Empress and all." She replied, confirming a suspicion that he was unwilling to follow due to her behavior up to this point. "Don't get used to it, this is as courteous as I get. Oh, and don't use that magic mojo on me again, or I'll break your arm."

The wolves growled menacingly. They didn't like him, but did take their job for the Queen seriously. He waved them to stand down, amused by her threat in spite of her rudeness. "Very well captain..."

"Ugh! Don't call me that, it sounds so... _ **military**_." She complained. "I'm a skipper."

"Very well...skipper. Let's talk business. I'd like to charter a flight."

"Where to lacy britches?" Aimery's eye twitched. He wasn't used to this side name calling, at least not from someone who was below his station. The temptation to use his Gift return, but her reaction to his last use of his Gift left him hesitant to do so again. He needed this woman relatively intact to pilot him through the blockade. He decided to take the diplomatic approach.

"Io, and that's _'Your Excellency'_ if you please." He said.

"No, I don't please. If you want someone to flatter you, there is a cloister of floozies in the next habitat who will smother you with it for the right price. Me, I don't sell compliments Thaumaturge, I'm in transportation." She dropped her boots from the table the thud they made on the floor could be felt across the tavern. She leaned forward on the table as she stood, taking a more aggressive stance that caused his wolves to take a step forward. "Io huh? No wonder you came to me. Passage to the Forbidden Moon is going to cost you."

"I understand," he said, scum like her always padded the bill for the jobs no one else would do. "I am capable of meeting any reasonable fee..."

"Not so fast bucko," she raised a hand, cutting him off. "I don't just take anything or one to Io, no matter the price. You gotta tell me what you plan on doing there or no deal."

"My mission is diplomatic and confidential, Twitch. Surely even someone of your...profession can understand that?" He reasoned.

"Nope, I don't, so explain it to me." She countered. "You see I have a somewhat personal stake in the future of that moon. Hate to see it ruined by a bloated balloon bureaucrat from Sun-side putting his hog nose where it wasn't wanted."

Aimery rose angrily to meet her, leaning forward to look her in her goggles. "If you wish to protect your _personal interests_ , I suggest you not hinder my mission. Rest assured either I go to Io with you, or I'll go with the Empress, but I will be going and the Empress is not known for her consideration of others' interests."

That gave her pause and he saw her brow rise reflexively in surprise. Hopefully she would see reason and he wouldn't be forced to use his Gift on her, the last thing he needed was her to breakdown halfway to Io because his grip was too tight.

"So the rumors are true, she's really coming. With an armada to boot." Twitch straightened up from the table. Her stern expression broke into a charming smile and barked a hearty laugh. "It seemed so ridicules that I almost believed the garbage the Oligarchy has been broadcasting on the waves. All that to settle an assumed challenge from someone so obscure she's never even heard of her before. She's as loony as they said! Ha, it's incredible! I'll do it, I'll take you to Io!"

Aimery's anger at her abuse of his Queen imploded as he heard her last words. "You will?" He asked incredulously.

"Sure, just one condition." She said, becoming serious again. "I take you alone, in your ship, and all these freaks and flunkies, they don't come along. Tell them to be off the ship when we arrive."

"You're joking!" He cried looking for a hint of the humor he had seen only a moment before.

"Nope." She answered walking towards the exit. "Let's get going, you can comm your people and explain it on the way. Come on man, let's get going!" Aimery's wolf guards followed her while he stood dumbfounded. Did she actually tell him to order all his people off the ship, so she could take him to _Io alone?_ He came to as she made shooing motions at the creatures and called them fleabags with a condescending tone designed to irritate. The wolves responded with snarls and bearing sharp teeth, their self-control hanging by a thread.

Logic hit him like a wall. The woman was insane. It was the only logical explanation. Was she even the vaunted Skipper Twitch or just a drug addled daughter of a dockworker? It didn't matter, this girl was no use to him. His last gambit had failed, all that was left to do was decide if he preferred to die running the blockade or under prolonged torture for the amusement of his sublime Queen.

He turned to the exit to leave, shaking his head. The girl was still there, waving stupidly for him to follow. He had had enough of her, who would care if his Gift would wreck to brain. He reached out to her bio-electricity, gripped it hard, and pushed.

Then he found himself flying through the air and crashing into a table halfway across the tavern. Shaking his head to clear away the fog of shock and pain, he remembered the look on the girl's face. The serene expression of calm submissiveness that would be happy to follow whatever order he gave, turn into a violent shade of anger right before she...twitched?

He heard another smack as one of his wolf guard was thrown into his field of vision, against a wall and crumbled to the floor like a broken doll. He didn't move, both arms clearly dislocated from the shoulders, and blood trickled out of a shattered jaw. Aimery turned back towards the exit and spied the crazy young woman toss a credit chip to the bartender.

"Sorry Mack," she said in a shamed tone befitting one having been caught indulging in a guilty pleasure. "Hostile clients, driving a hard bargain, you know... For the mess, if that isn't enough, put the rest on my tab."

"Sure thing, May." He answered, nodding as if she did this often. The crazy woman turned to Aimery who was now very frightened. He tried to get up and flee, but she was too quick. He had barely managed a crawl as she gripped his leg in a hand like a vice and dragged him unflatteringly across the floor. They passed his second wolf guard lying next to the door, neck twisted in an unnatural way, as they left the tavern.

 _She killed them!_ He thought. _Two Special Operatives! How could she...? What did she...?_ Fear took him and he tried to struggle, but his efforts were hampered by the terrible pain in his left arm. Probably unable and less than willing to conjure a good glamour, he took hold of a bare pipe along the wall of the passageway with his right hand. As he gripped it with dear life, she shook him violently free and he cried out in pain.

"Oh, shut up!" She growled. "It's your own fault, y'know. I told you I would break your arm if you tried to use your magic mojo on me. Who would have thought that thaumaturges were hard of hearing, or are _you_ just dumb? Come on, we have a ship to catch!"

 _My ship!_ He thought and stopped struggling, only whimpering at the occasional jerks her steps made. _The other wolf operatives, and the great wolf beasts!_ They could save him from this mad woman. He just had to contact them, get them ready. Maybe if there was anything left of the girl, he could get some answers, but at the moment he would settle for the beasts tearing her apart.

He keyed his wrist comm and punched in a special code for situations like this. _Well, not exactly like this_ , he mused, _close enough though_. He smiled and enjoyed the rest of the ride as best a man could in his position, listening to the heavy clomps of the Twitch's steps bringing her closer to doom.


End file.
